Using clever garden design to create a beautiful calming space | Discovery | Gardening Australia
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- Jane explores a wellbeing garden and learns how clever design can create a calming space for quiet reflection. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe
Nestled within the cool oasis of the Fern Gully, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria has created three spaces designed for meditation and for “contemplating your connection with nature or connection to life” says Landscape Architect Andrew Laidlaw. As visitors follow the often-busy Fern Gully boardwalk, the Wellbeing Gardens give the opportunity to leave the main path, stop, pause and reflect.
The gardens were created thanks to funds donated by three supporters, who each had stories of lost loved ones. “We designed the gardens with those people in mind, but the gardens are for everybody,” says Andrew.
To create a sense of ‘wellbeing’ the spaces feature four elements: Green, water, sensory engagement (through plants, textures, sounds or feelings), and symbolism.
Andrew adds that diversity is also a key feature: “The detail in the planting is really important in these meditation gardens. There are tests now being done that show that if a garden has lots of different plants, that really adds to the person’s experience and to their health and wellbeing.”
The Moss Garden:
A small, circular space, covered in soft mosses and ferns that create a damp and peaceful atmosphere. The donor lost his wife and daughter in the same year, so Andrew designed a small wellspring garden that represents eternal life with water coming out of a stone. There are also three sculptural stones placed around the wellspring, which represent the three members of the family.
The Birds Nest:
The circular space includes a hanging seat shaped like a chrysalis, designed by artist David Wong, and it is enclosed by a woven fence that gives a sense of being securely cocooned. This is reinforced by the strong buttress roots of a dominant Moreton Bay Fig tree that hosts epiphytic ferns and orchids. “It’s like the tree of life,” Andrew says.
The garden was sponsored by a woman in memory of her aunt, who had loved birds, and plantings include Bird’s Nest Ferns and plants from the aunt’s garden.
This space is a particularly popular garden with younger visitors and couples.
The Grotto:
The area is again roughly circular, with a water feature and enclosed by a metal sculpture that mimics an overhanging branch. There is a stone grotto, symbolic on many levels, and tucked away among the stones are pieces of salvaged broken crockery, relics left by visitors from the days when china plates were used for picnics. “The donor lost her husband, and he was very passionate about all the stones and rocks that came off his property, so we built a grotto garden for him,” Andrew explains. The design team went to the effort of transporting stones from the property to create the textured wall.
___________________________________________
Gardening Australia is an ABC TV program providing gardening know-how and inspiration. Presented by Australia's leading horticultural experts, Gardening Australia is a valuable resource to all gardeners through the television program, the magazine, books, DVDs and extensive online content.
Watch more: iview.abc.net.au/programs/gard...
Facebook: / gardeningaustralia
Instagram: / gardeningaustralia
Web: www.abc.net.au/gardening
___________________________________________
This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation RUclips channel. Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC's Online Conditions of Use www.abc.net.au/conditions.htm (Section 3). 
Развлечения
What an absolutely amazing place! It is so calm and soothing, not to mention incredibly beautiful. I love all 3 gardens, each very special and meaningful. The sympathetic design, as well as the diversity & private spaces, make this a place for all to enjoy now & for many generations in the future. Thank you Jane & Andrew for bringing your love of nature and passion to this video! I think this is my favourite Gardening Australia video of all time.
These gardens are so important. I wish there were more garden spaces in hospitals, to allow the patients to sit and get well with a bit of sunshine, insects and flowers, and soft fragrance of flowers. And also for the visitors to sit and chat.
Agreed!
Absolutely
That would be amazing!
What a great idea!
Great idea！agree～
I love seeing, Jane, a lovely gardener and presenter.
She's such a gem! Thanks for watching Mary :)
What wonderful gardens! I really like the nest, and the fact it is accessible for people with disabilities and other mobility issues/aids. Also love the fact that David the gardener has been collecting the bits of crockery, and that they've been used in this way.
Let us know how you go!
These gardens are so primal and invoke such a lovely calm feeling. How wonderful to have something like this.
We're lucky to have experienced them! Thanks for watching :)
Nature Intense. Exploding energies. Peaceful vibes.
Great work featuring these garden spaces from the botanic gardens and sharing the message of connectivity and reflection within nature.
Thanks for the kind words and for watching!
Wonderful,serene!
I just love sitting out in my garden, I’ve made it tropical with 52 palms, tree ferns, various ferns from small to large including 10 bird nest ferns, cycads, giant bird of paradise, several large trees, 4 water gardens and 3 bird baths, I love the seclusion, being in amongst and surrounded by the greenery, listening and watching the birds, lizards and all creatures that come and go. I’ve got a terrific gardener who knows exactly what I like and helps maintain it because I’ve suffered a recent spinal injury. I would be happy just to take my last breath in the garden if I was given a choice where to fall of the twig.
Awesome video that truly reflects the importance of Nature.
Thanks for watching Ray!
Vielen Dank für das tolle video 🌱ich liebe euren Kanal 😊viele Grüsse aus Deutschland 🇩🇪
Fantastic gardens! They indeed honour the memories of the departed ones and one feels the love of their families that chose to remember them in this way. I greatly appreciated this all the way from Kenya.
Thank you for your insightful words, we're glad you enjoyed the video :)
Wow!
Pemandangan alam yang sangat indah sekali kawan
Fantastic!
Thanks for watching!
Wah bagus sekali tempat nya ya sahabatku 👍
Great video, thank you.
Glad you liked it!
I think I want to run a business in garden and landscape design. 😅😅
0:40 all gardens make you feel something.
2:34 WORD SALAD!! Mate, loose the buzz words. You’re in Australia, not California. Stop trying to make us something we are not.